Last weekend we published a special report on life in Kensington - which some residents told us has turned into a living nightmare.

The article generated a huge amount of response from our readers, with the majority agreeing that Kensington - while a once bustling and pleasant place to live, and which has many fantastic people fighting for their community - has been badly neglected and those living there left to deal with a wide range of issues that are making their daily lives a misery.

We heard how violent crime, drug dealing and prostitution has become commonplace, with many scared to venture out of their homes.

This week we went back to Kensington with ECHO photographer James Maloney in a bid to capture those issues through images of the reality on the streets there.

This is what we saw.

Housing

The residents we spoke to last week believe that housing lies at the root of many of Kensington’s existing problems.

The area has become overrun with cheap, poorly maintained shared houses, owned by out-of-town developers, which has created something of a transient community and driven families out.

Forgotten Kensington - snapshots of an ordinary day in Kensington, Liverpool. Photo by James Maloney

Walking down the back streets of Kenny, To Let signs are an ever-present sight - an immediate symbol of the shift in culture in the area.

In some streets it is a rarity to find a house without a multi-coloured sign protruding from it, advertising yet more cheap rooms availble to rent right away.

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As we have reported, those living around these multi-person house shares have also complained at the amount of obtrusive building work that developers are carrying out on houses in Kensington as they look to convert their properties so that they can fit yet more rent-paying lodgers inside - and we spy numerous scaffolding structures in place.

‘If you change a community it changes everything that’s there’

That was a quote from one Kensington resident we spoke to and it is clear to see where he is coming from.

Where families and homeowners will take pride in their local area and ensure that their street is somewhere safe and clean for their children to play, many of the areas we visited in Kensington have been left with huge amounts of fly-tipping and discarded rubbish.

There are overflowing bins as well as numerous sofas left in back alleys - it feels like no-one cares.

Forgotten Kensington - snapshots of an ordinary day in Kensington, Liverpool. Photo by James Maloney

One particularly evocative photograph shows two bikes, broken and crumpled that have simply been left in the middle of a street.

“If you walk down the high street in Kensington now, it actually reflects the community - you can get a tattoo but you can’t get a stamp.”

Forgotten Kensington - snapshots of an ordinary day in Kensington, Liverpool. Photo by James Maloney

Its not that there is anything wrong with tattoo parlours, but a quick look down Kensington High Street and you can see how things have changed.

People who have lived in the area for some time say that where there were once amenities like banks and post offices, there are now only betting shops, salons and takeaways.

Our photographs add weight to the claims that Kensington is the place that Liverpool forgot - and show why the people living here feel neglected and ignored.

Forgotten Kensington - snapshots of an ordinary day in Kensington, Liverpool. Photo by James Maloney

A brighter future on the way?

Last week Liverpool council’s cabinet member for the environment, Cllr Steve Munby, told us work was under way to help - but he accepted it would not be easy.

He said: “In terms of the environmental issues, we have started work on a range of things like cleaning up the four foot alleyways. We have also launched three new specific Hit Teams who are tasked with dealing with fly-tipping specifically in that area as soon as it is reported.”

Forgotten Kensington - snapshots of an ordinary day in Kensington, Liverpool. Photo by James Maloney

He added: “It will be like turning around a tanker, it is going to take time and I don’t expect the residents to take my word for it, they need to see results.

“By the end of September, if I haven’t seen a radical change in some of these issues in Kensington then I will be susprised and disappointed, but obviously not as disappointed as the residents.”

On Friday the city council’s cabinet approved a package of measures aimed at specifically dealing with the Houses of Multiple Occupation issue which could begin to reverse some of the downturn that the area has been experiencing for a long time.

But as you can see from our images, it is going to a lot more to change the fortunes of this once thriving community.